What did we find on day 2 of the Yorkshire Naturalists Union weekend visit to UpperTeesdale on 1-2 August 2026?
I joined several people in the YNU at the village of Holwick near Middleton-in-Teesdale as part of the Teesdale weekend. You might be able to see one or two people in this picture disappearing into the distance. NY903270
The day started sunny - remember this is the year of the drought, but fortunately Teesdale still had some greenness left in the vegetation.
Terry in the seat had just given us maps. He suggested a walk following his road which turned into a track for about a mile or two (past Holwick Crags on the left ) then taking a footpath down through a field and a very steep slope with scrub to a wet meadow/flush at the bottom then returning along a track.
First we had a look at the wall nearby (off ) on the left.
Jill showed us some Umbilicaria cylindrica In VC 65 , indeed in all Yorkshire there are only a few records of this species, nearly all in Upper Teesdale. There are quite a lot in the Lake District and Scotland.
She had been shown this on a recent visit with some BLS Members from the NE of England.
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| A close up of this Umbilicaria cylindrica show its black gyrose apothecia and some branched black cilia at the thallus lobe margins. |
On a cap-stone nearly by was some Polycauliona (formerly Xanthoria) candelaria sens lat. This tends to grow where birds perch leaving nitrogenous droppings. This is more abundant in eastern Britain.
We set off up the path - Stella and Ian, Jill, Janet and myself. with the tall cliffs of Holwick Crags on the left. (The Whin Sill) . Near the summit of the path a big boulder with white lichens cried out to be looked at.
It had the lichen Ophioparma ventosa
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| Ophioparma ventosa has red apothecia. It has areoles (islands) which have a lumpy warted surface. |
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| Parsley Fern, common in the Lake District was growing by some rocks. |
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| It - the stile to take the footpath down - was only a mile from our starting point, but seemed much further in the dry treeless exposed landscape |
The field was grazed and relatively flat at first. We found a moth - the Barred Straw Gandaritis pyraliata. The forewings cover the hindwings.
The path then got much steeper.. The slope was fenced off from grazing so the Juniper scrub was able to grow and the vegetation was longer. Parts were wet heath. I would have liked to stop and explore but the path between the shrubs was very narrow and steep , and no space for us to stop and sit. So we continued down to a flatter pasture with flushes at the bottom, found a tree to shelter from the sun and had lunch.
I enjoyed my fish bites and a few chips, saved from supper yesterday at Middleton Fish and Chip shop. Doubly delicious when you are hungry.
In the flush some rushes had galls
Here are some lichens from a boulder in the stream in that paasture/meadow, and from rocks and the gate nearby.. But I am not confident of their names
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| A cladonia |
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| Hypogymnia tubulosa on the gate post |
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| Possibly Ochrolechia androgyna - but I did not test it with chemicals. |
I went out of the field round to the land above the pasture - the fenced off area called The Bands on the map that we had walked down through. Here the Juniper was growing on wet heath - but with flush species too including Tawny Sedge - so it looked a nice mix. There was Sundew in the sphagnum, and Pyrenean Scurvey-grass I wondered if there were special species of Sphagnum but there was not time to look.
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| Photogenic bales |
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| Sawfly larvae on alder |
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| Beetle larva |
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| Coleophora moth on alder |
Further on we came to a new plantation. I wiosh they did not plant the trees so close.
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| This Rowan at the edge had things growing on its leaves |
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| Rust |
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| Under-suface of Rust |
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| Galls caused by a midge larva |
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| Xnathoria calcicola |
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| Xnathoria calcicola |
I still have to add a couple of videos. Special thanks to Jill with her knowledge of galls and insects.
I had an interesting trip back through VCs 65,69,65 again and 64 - maybe on day i will do a post on that.
I am looking forward to the YNU AGM on 7 November at York and seeing friends there again.
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